Apr
3
Peer to Peer Lending with Prosper Et Al.
April 3, 2008 | 2 Comments
Maybe you’ve heard of peer to peer ( p2p ) lending. It’s also known as social lending or person to person lending. What is it and how does it work? I have some experience in this area so read on to find out what p2p lending is all about.
Borrowers
Consumer loans are big business. According to Wikipedia there is a $2.5 trillion (that’s 25 followed by 11 zeroes) consumer lending market in the United …
Apr
1
Retirement Revolution - Part Two
April 1, 2008 | 2 Comments
The US retirement system is about to face its biggest challenge. The baby boomers are starting to retire. What can the baby boomers do to prepare for retirement? What will they do with themselves during their long retirement?
Retirement Revolution is PBS show hosted by Paula Zahn. The first part airs on PBS for the first time on March 31, 2008. The second half “On Our Own” airs on PBS Monday April 7th, 2008 for the …
Mar
19
What is Your Investment Philosophy?
March 19, 2008 | 2 Comments
I’ve come to believe the most important investment decision you can make is deciding upon an investment philosophy. I call it a philosophy but it could also be called an investment style, an investing strategy or even and investment system. All of these terms are rather hard to define. Some have clear meanings. Let’s elaborate on investment philosophy.
As usual I searched for these terms on …
Mar
17
What is a Hedge Fund?
March 17, 2008 | 1 Comment
Hedge funds are getting a lot of press these days. It seems that hedge funds are in the news every day and not for good reasons. In the current financial downturn, hedge funds are collapsing left and right. If you’re like a good portion of the general public you have no idea what a hedge fund is. So let’s answer the question: What is a hedge fund?
My first stop in any research is usually Google. …
Mar
11
Top Five College 529 Savings Plans
March 11, 2008 | 2 Comments
In a follow up to my previous posts about saving for college with a 529 college savings plan, I’ve recently come across Kiplinger’s ranking of the top five college 529 savings plans.
I personally subscribe to Kiplinger’s as well as a few other personal finance magazines. While these magazines may not make you a millionaire overnight, they at least provide some education reading while at the job, …
Mar
7
Will Your Bank Fail?
March 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
… FDIC insured enjoys the same level of protection.
A bank’s product is money. It has an inventory of money. It is required to keep a only a small percentage of its total deposits as a reserve. The rest it loans out at a profit in an attempt to make money.
If the bank doesn’t make money, for instance say it makes mortgage loans to people who don’t pay back the money; the bank could go out of business. Again, because the bank's product is money, going out of business …
Feb
28
College Savings Dilemma
February 28, 2008 | 1 Comment
… plans or college savings in general? So was I, so I researched and wrote this article as a way to educate myself (and hopefully you) on the topic of college savings.
My son Ben just turned one year old as I write this. He had the mandatory birthday party and received presents and a decent amount of cash from relatives.
We deposit all of his money into his passbook savings account. His mother opened it; I really didn’t want it as it’s not a terribly good investment. The account …
Feb
23
Online Savings Accounts: HSBC vs ING
February 23, 2008 | 3 Comments
… a little cash stashed away for a rainy day. After all you never know when an emergency is going to come up. I first starting saving online many years ago with ING Direct. I really liked ING and their website is great. I liked them so much I refinanced my mortgage with them. I've since paid off my mortgage.
Even though I liked ING, savings is all about returns and HSBC Online consistently pays more than ING. So a couple years ago I moved my savings to HSBC. I used my ING …
Jan
4
Don't Buy Stocks
January 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
I don’t buy stocks in individual companies and I don’t think you should either. I’ll tell you why later but first a little Econ 101 (Don’t worry, I’ll be brief).
A stock is a small piece of ownership in a company. Companies sell shares to raise money. This money is typically used to help a company grow. Let’s say that you have a small furniture making business. You can produce about one nice …
Feb
9
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits and grants loans. A bank may participate in other financial endeavors and the activities that banks participate in are broadening.
Banks may offer a range of services including:
Checking Accounts
Savings Accounts
Certificates of Deposit
Savings Bonds
Money Orders
Traveler's Checks
Currency Exchange
Personal Loans
Auto Loans
Commercial Loans
Construction Loans …